A Method for the Acetylation of Alcohols Catalyzed by Heteropolyoxometallates

Summary. Esterifications of acetic acid with some linear, secondary, tertiary, and benzylic alcohols mediated by catalytic amounts of Keggin, Wells–Dawson, and Preyssler type heteropolyacids were carried out under reflux at mild reaction conditions with good to excellent yields. Among the examined catalysts, H₃PW₁₂O₄₀ and H₁₄NaP₅W₃₀O₁₁₀ revealed better results than other heteropolyacids. This work was performed with the aim of simplifying the esterification process by omitting any solvents and mineral acid catalysts. Easy work-up, low cost, and acidic waste reduction, which are all important features from the environmental and economical points of view, are distinct aspects of this protocol. Heteropolyacid catalysts could be separated after a simple work-up and reused for several times.     

Theoretical analysis of the performance of a model supercapacitor consisting of metal oxide nano-particles

The factors influencing the electrochemical behaviour of a supercapacitor have been partly examined in this work. The effects of so-called intrinsic parameters, i.e. exchange current density, unit cell length and double layer (DL) capacitance; as well as the so-called application parameters, i.e. cell current, on the cell potential discharge time have been considered. The contributions of each type of capacitors, DL capacitor and faradaic supercapacitor under various states of operation and material have been analyzed, and the competing (compensating) effects of the two types of capacitors as regards to the discharge and power characteristics manifested by current–potential and energy–power (Ragone plots) are elucidated.     

Monolayer-protected gold nanoparticle coalescence induced by photogenerated radicals

Acyl and alkyl radicals generated photochemically in a solution containing monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles are shown to efficiently liberate the alkylthiolate ligands into the solution as the thioacetyl or alkyl sulfide, respectively. This radical-induced reaction initiates a coalescence of the gold cores to facilitate an increase in core size. The photoinitiated radical reaction also liberates monolayers from two-dimensional gold surfaces.     

An Approximation of the Analytical Solution of the Linear and Nonlinear Integro-Differential Equations by Homotopy Perturbation Method

This paper aims to introduce an analytic technique, namely the Homotopy perturbation method (HPM) for the solution of integro-differential equations. From the computational viewpoint, the comparison shows that the homotopy perturbation method is efficient and easy to use.     

Simulation of gas absorption into string-of-beads liquid flow with chemical reaction

This study is an attempt to investigate the chemical absorption of CO₂ in aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA) solution in a wetted-wire column consisting of one wire. Computational fluid dynamics method along with volume of fluid model was employed for modeling of two-phase flow, mass transfer and chemical reaction inside the column. The modeling results were compared with available experimental data and very good agreement was achieved. The simulation results showed that the diameter and intervals of liquid beads increases by increasing the gas and liquid flow rates. The beads velocity increases by increasing the liquid flow rate and decreasing mass fraction of MEA in the liquid phase. Also, mass transfer resistance in the liquid phase reduces by formation of the beads. It was concluded that the developed model is capable to predict the effect of operating and physical parameters on the investigated chemical absorption process.     

On the Reaction between Alkyl Isocyanides and Ethynyl Phenyl Ketone in the Presence of N,N′-Dimethylbarbituric Acid

Summary.  The reactive 1:1 intermediate produced in the reaction between alkyl isocyanides and ethynyl phenyl ketone was trapped with N,N ′-dimethylbarbituric acid to produce alkyl 1,3-dimethyl-2,4-dioxo-7-phenyl-1,3,4,5-tetrahydro-2H-pyrano[2,3-d]pyrimidine-5-carboxamides in good yields. Corresponding author. E-mail: isayavar@yahoo.com Received January 8, 2002. Accepted January 14, 2002     

Liquid-liquid extraction of palladium(II) from hydrobromic acid media by hexadecylpyridinium bromide.

A simple and rapid liquid-liquid extraction of palladium has been studied involving ion-pairing of bromocomplexes of palladium(II) with hexadecylpyridinium bromide (HDPB) dissolved in chloroform. The stoichiometry and distribution of (HDP)2PdBr4 between the aqueous and organic phase was investigated by spectrophotometric mole ratio method. The extraction efficiency of palladium(II) by HDPB was studied as a function of several variables: acid, salt, surfactant concentration and equilibrium time. The results showed that PdBr4(2-) extraction could be explained by assuming the formation of (HDP)2PdBr4 complexes in the aqueous solution and transfer to organic phase. The extraction was fast and the shaking time was only a few min. The average recovery of palladium(II) from an aqueous solution containing 10 microg/ml of analyte was 99% with an RSD% of 0.95. The percentage recovery of 0.2 microg/ml palladium(II) was 96%.